Gospel Mindfulness

When we find ourselves in "the dip" we are uniquely vulnerable to temptation. We can experience physical temptations, disillusionment, and the desire to give up on our faith altogether. The truth the Colossians gives us to battle these is that there is inexpressible glory and joy found in Christ for those who wait on him.

Business guru Seth Godin speaks of the difficulty of "the dip." When we set out to accomplish something, if it's anything of significance, we will eventually come to a point in time when the effort we invest does not seem to yield any progress or success. We are faced with a decision. Is this a dead end, where we should turn back? Or is this something we should push through in order to achieve our goal? Is this "the dip?"

Christian growth involves an experience of the dip. As we seek to grow, we encounter periods of frustration and uncertainty. But Colossians is clear: we are never at a dead end if we are seeking to grow in Christ. We are in the dip. Because in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells.

Passage: Colossians 1:21-2:5

Our world is tearing apart because we've lost our true center. We're not as important as we think we are, and Christ is far more important than we possibly can imagine. God shows his unimaginable love for us by in Christ renovating this broken world, renovating us, that all things in Christ might become what they were created to be.

Passage: Colossians 1:12-23

Our greatest problem, and the central reason we do not grow, has to do with our center. As long as we maintain a sense of entitlement, as long as we see ourselves as the center of our own lives, our souls will be sick. Wholeness comes only as "self" recedes from the center of our lives and Christ, who is the center of the universe, becomes the center of who we are.

Passage: Colossians 1:12-23

Why is it that we are stuck? Why do we have a hard time growing? Quite often the reason is fear. We do not grow because we are afraid. The gospel, when rightly understood, is a fear-killer. It proclaims God's grace, which means we don't need to be afraid of our past, and it proclaims the hope that we have from God, which means we don't need to be afraid of our future. And so Paul prays that we would be changed as we are filled with the knowledge of God's gracious and hope-bringing will.

Passage: Colossians 1:1-14

We begin our first season by considering a common human predicament: stuckness. Most of us feel a desire to grow in our lives, in our relationships with others, and even in our relationship with God.

And yet we can often feel thwarted, incapable of making progress. This frustration raises a question: is true growth actually possible? Paul's letter to the Colossian church answers this decisively. Yes, you can grow--through the gospel.

Passage: Colossians 1:1-14

Welcome to Gospel Mindfulness, a podcast created to awaken you to the realities of who God is and how he makes a difference in the simple moments of every day.

Meet your co-hosts Betsy Hart and Geoff Ziegler as they introduce this new podcast.